


chocolate

by sbahjification



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Background [insert Hajime ship of choice here], Chocolate, Fluff, Gratuitous tarot cads, M/M, Mutual Pining, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-29
Updated: 2018-01-29
Packaged: 2019-03-10 21:32:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13510191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sbahjification/pseuds/sbahjification
Summary: Mika is nervous about confessing to his valentine. Little does he know, his valentine is nervous too.





	chocolate

Mika sighed dreamily over the bowl of chocolate before him, letting its aroma intoxicate him further into his infatuation. "I can't believe I'm doin' this," he muttered to himself. "I don' even know if he likes me back, but 'm in here workin' away like some kinda housewife-- Ahh!" He jumped back up, eyes darting over to process the source of the tap on his shoulder, than exhaled calmly upon seeing Hajime shy away from him. "Ah, 's just ya, Hajime-kun. Don' come up on me from behind like that? Crows'll eat a rabbit if they gotta, 'n all."

"Ahh, sorry... I was assigned to wash dishes here. Could it be that we're working together again?" Hajime recovered from his shyness, nudging his way into the dishwashing station to get to work.

"No, we ain't, I was actually jus' usin' it regularly this time. Although, I could stick around n' help ya some while this cools. Jus' gimme a minute, yeah?"

"You don't have to do that, I'm fine on my own and I would feel bad dragging you into work you wouldn't get paid for, considering your condition..."

"Nahh, don't worry 'bout it." While they conversed, Hajime started on his task, and Mika reluctantly added onto it once his chocolate was emptied into the molds to cool, but grabbed a towel to dry off what had been washed already, and they settled into the comfortable silence of repetition that usually fell between them during work.

"Are you participating in Chocolat Fes? My unit was just making chocolates for it yesterday, if you would like to use some of the leftover ingredients. It's not many, but it's better than them going to waste just for being scraps."

"It wasn' fer Chocolat Fes, actu- Uh. Y-Yeah, is that really alright with ya? It'd be a real shame ta waste food, 'n all, but that's awful generous."

"Since you're not getting paid for this work, you can consider it your pay," Hajime replied with a light laugh. "It's really not a lot, but you were talking about some boy liking you back, so it could be good enough for a gift, at least. I doubt Nii-chan would get mad over something like that."

"Nnah, ya weren' s'posed ta hear tha--! Don't tell 'im, alrigh', I would die!!"

"Ehehe, your accent sort of gets thicker when you're excited, just like Nii-chan." Hajime took the last plate out of Mika's surprised hands before he dropped it. "I won't tell him, I promise. I don't even know who he is, actually, but you must really like him."

"'Zat so. Alright then~ Yeah, ya got me, it's a gift. I couldn' afford a fancy box of chocolates or nothin', but I still wanted ta have somethin' ta show fer him, so I tried my hand at makin' my own. 'N the kitchen didn't burn down, 'n they taste alright, so I figure that's good enough."

"Anyone would be happy with such a heartfelt gesture, wouldn't they? I know I would."

"If he turns me down, ya can have 'em instead, then. Maybe we could be each other's valentines~ Although, I don' think anyone with a pair 'a eyes would reject ya."

"Ah, you think so?" Hajime tinted a pale pink, a smile creeping onto his face. "I hope my crush feels the same way. Um-" He shut himself up before he could incriminate himself further and hurried out of the kitchen, leaving Mika to tend to his cooling chocolate on his own.

The next day was full of excitement. Despite not having much to show for himself, Mika received the generic gifts his more prosperous classmates were giving out in addition to more flamboyant ones from the likes of Arashi, and a cute stuffed animal that Shu just happened to have seen him fawning over at a toy store just happened to appear in the Handicrafts Club room. Rather than the bliss he should have been overwhelmed with when being showered with candy, he felt an undercurrent of anxiety through the whole day, mind constantly drifting back to the wrapped chocolates currently in the clubroom fridge, and when he would have the opportunity to present them, if he even had the guts to.

Finally, the hour came, and he pulled the bag out of the fridge, clutching it to himself as if carrying his mother's journal of naked baby pictures. It was a long shot to assume that he could find his target outside the 2A classroom, and he walked off instead in a random direction, figuring any would give him an equal chance of finding him.

The hallways started to clear as Mika checked up and down each, worrying that he truly wouldn't be able to find him before the day was out. His scampering led to pacing, retracking steps and noticing that where a wall normally would be, there was a small crack, with a tempting smell wafting out of it, and he couldn't help but stick his nose in. The eerie corridor sent his heart racing, and the impression of being in a haunted house excited him enough to slip through the door and down the passage.

"This place's so cool," he murmured, hand running along the wooden walls and the flames that flickered above black candles, which faltered at a breeze, and Mika looked up just in time to see a flash of red vanish back behind a door. He traced his fingers to the hinges and cracked the door open, only able to glance in before he was interrupted with a sharp "Mika-kun."

"Leave this Place," Natsume continued, soft eyes unable to penetrate as deeply as his voice did, and Mika tested the waters by putting a foot in. Sure enough, Natsume made no move to stop him, only looking away to continue working on his aromatic concoction, so he sat down next to him to watch. Natsume had a careful, dextrous way of working despite his strong hands, and it made Mika want to learn everything about being a witch just so he could truly appreciate the finesse that was going into the flask in front of him.

"What're ya makin'?" he finally thought to ask.

"A love Potion, naturally. In Fact, it is nearly Complete, it just needs to Cool. I will Return." Before Mika could respond, he was gone, fleeing like a nervous fox and leaving him alone in the middle of the floor altar. Apart from the potion, which he could now pick up a pleasant fruit-and-vanilla scent from, there were crystals, decks of cards, and other knickknacks (like a gatling gun?) scattered around the room. Naturally, even in the domain of a witch, Mika's hands couldn't keep to himself, and he pulled open a frightening-looking deck of tarot cards with crows on the box. Placing a card down revealed an upside-down depiction of two grim reapers holding hands, and turning to try to see it better locked his eyes with Natsume - and then with a teddy bear and box of chocolates he was holding.

"Woah, 'zat for Anzu-chan? It's real cute, I bet she'll love it." His own eyes fluttered to the abandoned bag on the other side of the room, but for now he didn't dare present them, waiting for Natsume's response. He stuttered backwards when he didn't get one and Natsume instead approached him, a finger poking through his tarot deck inquisitively.

"You've held the deck upside Down. It should show itself to you this Way," he noted, flipping the card around so it now faced the two of them, and along with the illustration Mika could read "IV - THE LOVERS" across the bottom. Natsume traced it for a moment before a knowing look came across his face, and he retrieved the flask from where they'd been.

"These are not for the little Kitten." He held the bear, chocolates, and flask out to Mika, eyes averted, showing vulnerability for the first time since Mika had met him. He felt for a moment that he must be in a dream, but in his dreams Natsume would be dominant, verging on cruel, and this Natsume was hesitant, genuine, infinitely cuter than even his dreams could have conjured up. Mika scurried to his feet and ran over to the bag, holding it out as he scooped up his own gifts.

"I-It's not as much as all this, but I made ya somethin', too." Natsume looked at him curiously and opened the gift, his confident demeanor slowly returning to his face as he pulled out a misshapen, clearly amateur chocolate and placed it in Mika's hand, the delicate touch nearly melting it with the heat it left behind.

"Feed it to Me," he said with a wink that sent Mika's heart so aflutter that it could give out any moment now, and he complied, placing the chocolate in the other's open mouth, then pulling his finger out instinctively as he started licking at it. His face was unreadable as he tasted the confection, and Mika opened his own bag; just as obviously handmade, but much prettier, and he was in the middle of examining one's neatly done decor when Natsume took it from his hands and held it up to his mouth, placing it on his tongue when he opened it in surprise. Despite its appearance, it was pretty obviously amateurish, with a strange taste and grainy texture he thoroughly enjoyed, and when his eyes opened again they met Natsume's.

"Yours are far too Sweet, nearly as much so as you Are. However, they're filled with an irresistible Love. Yes, these are the workings of a magician in the Making." At a loss for words, Mika stuttered out a "Nnah?" and earned himself a sly laugh. 

"Your surprised faces are always so Cute." He ran a finger over Mika's cheek, prying the hand of safety away from his face and leaving him bare for as long as it took to back up and hide again. Natsume took pursuit until he had Mika backed up against the wall, hands gentle but still stronger than Mika's as they trapped him, staring into his eyes, their breaths intermingling between their red faces before Natsume went in to kiss him. Immediately he squirmed out of the grasp to grip at Natsume's waist, the back of his head, anything to pull them closer, to make the fantastical moment last. 

Eventually they had to pull away for breath, but they had as much time as they needed in the sanctuary of the secret passage, and neither wanted to let go. Natsume continued peppering Mika with kisses anywhere he could reach, the other giggling and shying away, but with nowhere to run he was forced to accept and return the affection. As the course of events went, they ended up on the floor, in front of the single card laying out for them, holding hands and smiling as they fed each other more chocolate. 

"It's getting Late, Mika-kun," Natsume eventually said. "Come meet me here Tomorrow, would you? I would make some excuse Like, I would teach you to read your tarot Cards, but truthfully I can hardly wait to spend more time with You."

Mika perked up. "But would ya really teach me?"

"Of course I Will. It seems you have a natural aptitude for it." He winked as he held up the Lovers card, tugging the both of them to their feet and giving Mika a parting kiss. And another. And okay, perhaps just one more wouldn't hurt.

In the end, it took them ten minutes to let go of each other long enough to part ways, and when they did Mika still watched his back, keeping Natsume in his sight. That night, as he lay in bed, he realized he'd forgotten the love potion. He would never learn that it was a placebo, because he didn't need it anyway. The stuffed bear smelled like the candlelit room it'd been kept in, and as he drifted off, he buried his face in it and pretended it was Natsume's chest.


End file.
